Post boxes wrapped in plastic across UK and taken out of service

Royal Mail is wrapping many postboxes in black plastic as changes are made

Traditional postboxes are being sealed off with tape in many places across the UK. Royal Mail is upgrading them to solar-powered models capable of handling parcels.

Multiple iconic pillar boxes have been shrouded in black plastic in recent months, accompanied by notices stating: “Out of service. Automated system coming soon.”

The development forms part of a nationwide introduction of “postboxes of the future”, enabling people to dispatch and return packages alongside standard letters. These revamped postboxes incorporate a barcode scanner, a pull-down compartment for parcels, solar panels powering the technology, and a distinct opening for letters.

According to postal bosses, customers will be able to post parcels measuring up to shoebox dimensions and monitor their items via the Royal Mail app. The postal service is implementing a countrywide deployment of 3,500 enhanced postboxes after a promising trial in Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire last April.

Postal executives say they won’t disclose upcoming locations as sites “are still liable to change”. Management say the expansion responds to a “sharp increase” in parcel volumes as internet shopping continues expanding, including second-hand marketplaces.

Yet this arrives as Royal Mail contends with grievances over delayed post and parcels taking precedence over letters. Last week, the company cautioned about possible service disruptions affecting over 100 UK postcodes as severe weather and staff absences through illness create problems, reports Bristol Live.

A representative for the firm explained that “adverse weather, including storms Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra in January, alongside higher-than-usual sick absence, has caused some short-term disruption to certain routes”. Discussing the new postboxes, the spokesperson highlighted their role as “another convenient way for customers to access Royal Mail’s services”.

“We’re pleased to see positive feedback from customers in areas where the postboxes have already been introduced, and we hope that local residents will find them just as useful and convenient,” they continued. “The turnaround for upgrades can be several weeks as each box is individually measured, the existing door is taken off and the new door must be transported from our engineering centre in Gloucester.

“The boxes are wrapped to protect them from the weather or vandalism during the upgrade. In the meantime, residents can use another nearby postbox (they can locate these via our Services Near You page, which is signposted on a notice on the out-of-service postboxes) or hand stamped letters to their postman or woman.”